Can I Have a Pony?: So Much for riding

July 02, 2011

So Much for riding

So a few weeks ago I arrived to see Millie and Misty, her chestnut neighbors mom was there. Apparently the automatic waterer that extends into both "stalls" was not refilling the water and both horses were parched. The owner had brought water from home, not sure why since I thought the stalls had pumps for water, and filled up the waterer and another bucket for her horse. Millie had water.

The waterer

I couldn't ride her since I didn't know how long she'd been without water, she drank a lot while I was there mucking her pen and giving her a quick brush over. She also played with the water in her lips, kind of biting it! Perhaps she was just THAT thirsty. For fear the water would not refill after she drank, I looked in the "tack room" that is in the back of the run in shed. I didn't see any bucket that I could be sure would be safe to use for drinking water. The only one that Terri, Millie's owners had was one with sponges and a bottle of shampoo....probably not a good idea to use that one!

The pens, Millie with Misty her neighbor

The tack room behind the sheds

Big R was way out east and I didn't know where else was close to get anything that would work so I decided to try out the Walgreens right down the street. Luckily it's summer so I found an ice tub for drinks. When I got back to the stable I filled the "bucket" with water using the little pump in the stall, the water trickled out but eventually it filled. I showed Millie the water and she played in it and then took many big gulps. Later that evening I found out that the waterer had been fixed and was refilling again. Millie's owner thanked me for the effort I made to take care of Millie. What else was I going to do?

Mean clouds that preventing me from riding!!

This past Wednesday I arrived to the stable in a drizzle. The clouds around were threatening thunder and lightning. I saw a few flashes in the sky, so decided it was best not to try and ride since this facility lacks an indoor area. I still needed to muck the stall but didn't want to use the metal wheel barrow in the threatening weather. I decided to use the blue tub that since the water issue had remained unused in the tack room. It took just two trips to bring the piles of manure to the manure pile. Then I loved on Millie for a bit. I noticed one of the railings had been bent or kicked off it's weld and the edges were really sharp. I looked in the tack room to see if there was any type of tape or something I could at least wrap the sharp edges in so Millie wouldn't get hurt. Walgreens to the rescue again! I ran over to Walgreens to grab some duct tape, then came back to the stable to wrap the sharp pipe. When I got home I would contact Terri to let her know about it. Since it was still icky and lightning, I gave Millie a hug and headed home.

The sharp edges!!! YIKES!

The next day I received an email back from Terri thanking me again for protecting Millie. She said that earlier that day Millie hadn't finished her food and later that evening had coliced. She didn't want me to worry since recently she had the farm up the quantity of hay given to her. I felt so bad for Millie, apparently slight changes in amounts and sometimes even cuts of hay cause her to colic easily. I don't bring more than one or two baby carrots if I bring any at all after Terri told me about her propensity. I definitely think this is a good reason why horses should be out in a pasture to graze most of the time so they have constant gut motility and motion from walking around the fields. Oh well, I hope Millie feels better soon.

Duct tape to the temporary rescue!

I asked Terri to let me know if she feels like I shouldn't ride on Sunday. If it's fine for me to I will take it slow with her and be very aware of any change in her behavior. I had noticed nothing when I was there the other night. Thinking back there was one weird poop that was more green but not too weird looking and there were a few sprigs of hay left scattered on the shed rows floor. After this I feel I have a better idea of what to look for, at least it sounds like the farm pays good attention to the horses in their care!